Last modified: 2025-03-10
Abstract
This study revisits the theological legacy of the First Council of Nicaea (325 CE), focusing on its principles of unity, universality, and solidarity. I reinterpret these principles to address the struggles of marginalized women in contemporary Asia. Despite rapid societal transformations, women in the region continue to face entrenched inequalities perpetuated by patriarchal systems, systemic exclusions, and sociocultural complexities. These challenges are exacerbated by intersecting identities, including class, ethnicity, and religion, resulting in layered vulnerabilities. This study revisits Nicene theology to examine how its principles can effectively address these injustices. Feminist intersectionality functions as an essential framework, elucidating the ways in which intersecting systems of oppression deepen marginalization and intensify structural inequities. Through this lens, I reinterpret unity as the integration of diverse identities for collective justice, universality as contextual inclusivity that embraces diversity, and solidarity as actionable support aimed at dismantling intersecting oppressions. To illustrate this, I draw on the experiences of Rohingya refugee women in South Asia and women working in Indonesia’s informal urban economy. These cases highlight the manifestation of layered vulnerabilities in everyday life and underscore the necessity of praxis-oriented, faith-based engagement that connects theological reflection with real-world solutions. This study integrates Nicene theology with feminist intersectionality, revitalizing the Nicene legacy as a resource for promoting unity, universality, and solidarity. It demonstrates how theology, far from being static, can engage meaningfully with contemporary gender challenges, particularly those faced by marginalized women. This approach offers a pathway for addressing systemic gender issues that is rooted in faith while being responsive to the complexities of women’s lived realities in a rapidly changing Asia. Through this study, I aim to contribute to a theology that actively supports justice and transformation for those most affected by inequality.